Together Digital Power Lounge, Women in Digital with Power to Share
Digital is a demanding and competitive field. And women are still grossly underpaid & underrepresented. But we are not powerless; we have each other. Together Digital Power Lounge is your place to hear authentic conversations from women in digital who have power to share. Listen and learn from our amazing guests along with host Amy Vaughan, Owner and Chief Empowerment Officer of Together Digital. Together Digital is a diverse and collaborative community of women who work in digital who choose to share their knowledge, power, and connections. To learn more, visit www.togetherindigital.com.
Together Digital Power Lounge, Women in Digital with Power to Share
Social Media, Sanity, & You
Struggling to maintain mental wellness in the digital marketing world? Welcome to the Power Lounge. Today, our host Amy Vaughan, owner and Chief Empowerment Officer at Together Digital, features Robbie Schneider, a healthcare content marketing leader with over 20 years of experience and author of Social Media, Sanity & You.
Looking for strategies to balance your professional and personal life? Robbie shares her journey from a goal-setting cohort participant to a published author, offering practical insights from her extensive background in healthcare and personal experiences.
How can you sustain your well-being in an always-on digital environment? Robbie provides actionable advice to achieve balance and maintain mental health in your professional life.
Connect with Robbie:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbieschneider/
Website: http://robbieschneider.net/
Episode Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
04:54 - Navigating Digital Impact on Mental Health
09:02 - Career Pivot: Social Media & Healthcare
13:22 - Strategic Resource Engagement
14:15 - "Burnout's Mental Health Impact"
18:46 - Strategic Response to News Events
21:55 - Walk Away from Screens
26:45 - Balancing Work Flexibility
29:42 - Challenging Meeting Necessity
32:15 - Navigating Social Media Trends
34:00 - Time Boxing for Focused Email Management
38:03 - Connecting Communication Research Dots
40:26 - Overcoming Perceptions in Strategic Communication
44:21 - Pandemic Shift in Social Media
48:48 - Goal Setting Tips for Big Ambitions
52:12 - Overcoming Challenges Shapes Growth
53:31 - Embracing Year-Round Opportunities
58:12 - "Boundaries, Communication, and Speaking Up"
01:00:03 - Leading with Heart in Business
01:00:32 - Outro
Quotes of the Episode:
"Serving as a strategic resource and having meaningful conversations eases stress and prepares you for crises."
— Robbie Schneider
"You don’t need to be an expert in everything. Delegate to experts and learn from them."
— Robbie Schneider
Hello everyone and welcome to our weekly Power Lounge. This is your place to hear authentic conversations from those who have power to share. My name is Amy Vaughan and I am the owner and chief empowerment officer of Together Digital, a diverse and collaborative community of women who choose to share their knowledge, power and connections. Join the movement at togetherindigitalcom and today I am thrilled to welcome one of our very own. Today's guest, robbie Schneider, is a true embodiment of what happens when passion meets purpose in the digital space. As I mentioned, she is a beloved member of Together Digital and our amazing community, and she recently achieved something remarkable she leveraged her goals from our 2024 goal-setting workshop into reality in her newly published book Social Media, sanity and you a Guide to Mental Wellness for the Digital Marker. So marketer, it's so Friday and I'm just so excited and I'm so stinking proud of you, robbie.
Speaker 1:For over two decades she's got has worked in healthcare and content marketing, and she currently leads social media strategy at the Franciscan Health Company and serves as a board chair for socialmediaorg health. But what makes this story particularly inspiring is how she has channeled her experience into addressing one of the industry's most pressing challenges protecting our mental wellness and an always on digital world and good golly, this couldn't be more important and relevant at this time and when. She's not just sharing her theoretical advice. She is. She's lived in that. She's not just hinging on theoretical advice. She's not just hinging on theoretical advice. She has lived these challenges of balancing digital demands with personal well-being, and today she'll be sharing some practical strategies that have emerged from her both personal and professional journey and her deep understanding of the healthcare space.
Speaker 1:As we launched our 2025 Authentic Ambition Goal Setting Cohort. Robbie's journey from workshop participant to published author could not be more timely. She is a shining example of how our community and support can help to transform professional aspirations into reality. So everyone, please join me in welcoming the amazing Robbie Schneider into the Power Lounge. Welcome, robbie.
Speaker 2:Hi, I'm so glad we get to talk this morning finally. I know, you know, I know we wanted to do this in December and life happens, unfortunately, and I'm just excited. I think this is a wonderful time. Right now there's so much going on with the news and in the digital space, and I'm just thrilled to be talking with everybody about this and bringing some attention to it.
Speaker 1:As much as life can throw us in, as hard as I know things were for you at the end of the year. You know, I think you're right. I think now is the time that we need to be having this conversation. So, yeah, definitely, members be listening Now. Members share the news of this book because it's such a fantastic read and, again, you know, you've walked the walk and now you're talking the talk, and I think that that's so great. But before we dive into the book, I'd love to hear more about your journey with this community together, digital, and what sparked your decision to make writing social media sanity and you your goal during our workshop.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's a loaded question and you know, I'm gonna be frank with you, I was very unsure about together digital at first, because there were some really great local communities and unfortunately my market didn't have one and I was like, what is the value of another digital organization? And I'll tell you, amy, this one is different, it feels different. You know, we've got great connections with the cohorts and the goal setting groups and I've met wonderful women around the country who are willing to pitch in and help bounce off ideas and collaborate and really grow in our professional goals. So I really, you know, I'm thrilled to be part of this group and I'm thrilled to continue with this group and I just, I just can't say enough about it. But, um, so he made an extended invitation to you know, just try it out for a year. And I said, okay, well, if I'm going to do this, I'm really going to invest with this and really make sure that I'm making the difference with it. And I said signed up for the goal setting workshop. Um, had no idea what I wanted to do, so I'm going to give you my you know, very real thing for anybody who can see. These are my sticky notes of ideas and goals and things I thought maybe I'd like to do over the 2024. No real sense of rhyme or reason, but I had ideas of things and getting past the idea into action it's an evolution it really is and being able to work through you know kind of how I wanted to do things, how I wanted my 2024 to look.
Speaker 2:I come off of a couple of very difficult years, not only COVID, but also with some life-changing events in our family and, you know, really trying to take a look at you know what can I do to kind of shift the script in my head and what can I do to really make the most out of what I I've been through and to help others also. And so one of my goals was really just, it wasn't even about writing a book at the time, it was about hey, I just want to use my voice to leverage and discuss about the impacts of working in the digital space and the impacts it can have on the mental health, because we've talked so much about how social media is impacting our youth and that's such a valid conversation. But a lot of times what we tell people is just turn off your phone, put it away, download those apps. What do you do when you're that provider and that's a professional, and your expectation is to be digitally connected all the time? How do you find that balance in life?
Speaker 2:It's something that's a challenge, it's something that doesn't go away and, frankly, you know, given the political environment we've been in the last probably five to eight years, just given the evolution of the discourse on social media and given the splintering of all the social media outlets that we have to choose from from a brand perspective, we're doing more and more and more and with the speed of social media, you know, we're getting less and less and less time and trying to figure out where that balance is so we can come back and perform and be at our best, so we can do our best work for our brand is just it's. It's good for us and it's good for your business as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, agreed, and thank you so much for being honest, because I think it's a fair and valid point right, and I think that we're in a new era where there's like this pivot obviously towards everything hybrid and virtual and remote and you know, and it almost makes us feel more separated and fragmented and alone and sometimes it's hard to think because there are not always platforms that are built out there with intentionality and purpose and mission that you're like, is this going to be a safe space? Is this truly going to be a place where I can, you know, bring my full self and talk about my challenges? And to me, I think that's like the importance of community right now in the world that we're living in, whether it's online or offline, but finding your people and community to source that collective courage that you need to sort of go after the things that you never thought you would go after. And I, you know, I think there's. There's people I challenge people all the time. I know women who have become the best of friends through our network and being on zoom and chat alone, who start businesses together, you know, and then end up in the physical world together. It's just, you know, I mean God, if people can get online and meet and get married and spend the rest of their lives together. Why can't I meet my professional soulmates online too?
Speaker 1:Right, and I also think and I do appreciate the fact that, even though you were a little discerning about it that when you came on board, you jumped right in, because this is the kind of thing, right Any community what you put into it is what you get out of it. You can't just show up and take. You have to show up and be willing to give, and I think you've done such a great job with that, especially with being so brave as to choose a very value-based goal of yours. That, I know, is a little hard to do, looking at all those post-its to then take the things that you had experienced and learned and grew from and say, oh, I figured this out and now I want to help others figure it out. That's just, it's so, so amazing. I love that.
Speaker 1:And so, yes, kudos to you for just you know coming in, being intentional, using your time wisely. I think sometimes we make the excuse I just don't have the time. You've really done that, like you're working a full time job and still showing up for yourself and taking the time to do this always on social media, plus write a book about it. So I want to talk a little bit about that. Like you know, was there any particular moment, or was this something that kind of had been sitting with inside your either your mind or your heart? Was there any particular moment that made you realize that this was the message that you needed to put out there, to like, ok, look at all those post-it notes, this is the thing that needs to go out into the world of digital professionals.
Speaker 2:I think for me and my journey, you know, I've worked in the social media landscape since, you know, the early days of Facebook and it was literally my career took a pivot when I had a conversation with somebody in another room saying, hey, what do you think about this Facebook thing? And had I known that this would completely shake my career, who knows where I would have been. But you know, as we've seen social media grow and evolve and some ways good, some ways bad, you know and coupled with a pandemic and I work for a healthcare organization, and especially if you think back to the very early days in 2020, there was a lot of confusion, a lot of concern.
Speaker 2:You know we rode the emotional roller coaster of what the heck is this? Watching science experiments in real time. Essentially, you know, we're, we're, we're testing, we being, you know, the global science community is testing to try to figure out what exactly is going on and how our best practices for treatments and prevention and that kind of thing, trying to make sure that you know we're out there as a public health resource, trying to be that resource for people who are reaching out for information, whether they're concerned about a loved one or they may be needing to visit the hospital, or you know, hey, I saw this on social media and you work for a hospital. You must know what's going on. It was truly an emotional roller coaster. You know, I think I went 60 days without a day off in the initial weeks, because you just had this sense of you know, this is your moment.
Speaker 2:This is the stuff we've been planning for since H1N1 back in 2009. And these are. You know we're actually. This is evolving in real time and you know the reality is.
Speaker 1:I dealt very much with burnout as a result of it and I didn't realize it was burnout.
Speaker 2:at the time I was tired, you know. We kind of got through the motions. Everybody was going through this collective social shift where you weren't seeing people and you were suddenly trying to get your child to actually do their homework while you're trying to do your job.
Speaker 2:And, thank God, I made it through me and my kid actually made it to the next grade. I'm quite shocked that that happened, to be honest. But, um, I really, you know, um, there was, there was a lot, and I came through this and started thinking it was like, well, maybe it's amazing. And you know, I, I worked with, you know, my manager at the time and he was kind of like, well, what can we take off your plate? And I'm like, well, you can't take anything off of my plate unless you, you know, get more people. And so it was kind of like, well, if you don't take anything off your plate, it's kind of like your fault and it's, it's, it is and it isn't, it's just the reality of the situation and we were in very unique times. And then, um, I'm very blessed that I'm part of socialmediaorg health, which is a consortium of other healthcare social media professionals across the country.
Speaker 2:And we were all starting to having those same conversations. We're just exhausted, we're burned out, we just can't keep up at this speed. And I realized it's not a me thing, it's not our hospital thing, it is a healthcare, social media professional thing. And, as I, you know, continue these conversations. You know we got through the worst of the pandemic and we're still all burnt out and we're still all tired. And you know, what do we do to kind of help evolve the conversation?
Speaker 2:And I, you know, as I'm reading and growing, I'm learning that it's, you know, not just healthcare, social media professionals, it's people working in digital space, it's people who are working in media relations, it's people not even just in the United States. You know, the burnout among professional communicators is huge. There's studies in the UK and Australia and around the world demonstrating the level of burnout and mental health concerns that we're all facing as communicators. And you know, so we have to take a look at it and sometimes the answer is maybe we, we don't have that resource to step back, but maybe we've got some other resources and having those hard conversations.
Speaker 2:And maybe it took me into my forties to realize that I can't have those hard conversations and saying I can't do all the things at once and have it all performed to their best abilities, and for me to be a performing in my best abilities, and so having those conversations of me to be performing in my best abilities, and so having those conversations of hey, you know, if this needs to get moved up because of a campaign, something else has to go, yes, and so if you can't meet this deadline or this needs to be moved up, what needs to get shifted? So everything gets the appropriate attention they deserve, not only from the social media team, but the design team, the marketing team, the eyes that are looking at the content that you want people to react to. If you are flooding people with post, post, post, post, post, they're going to tune you out.
Speaker 2:And you've done no good other than just spin your wheels. So having those tough conversations it gets easier over time. Being asked to be brought to the table and saying, hey, don't forget, we're here as a strategic resource, being able to have those deep conversations. It just makes all the difference because whatever you can do on the front end to help reduce your stress in your workday is going to help you out when you hit those crisis events or life events that cause that upheaval professionally.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm. Yeah, and I love that you're so spot on. We need to really start looking at and thinking of life events that cause that upheaval professionally. Yeah, and I love that you're so spot on. We need to really start looking at and thinking of, like I think we're all burnt out on the word burnout, but we need to talk about what's behind the word burnout. It's mental health impact and it's acknowledging the fact that it's impacting and hurting a lot of people. And even though some people might think it's like a fluffy thing to have like mental health, you know we don't put it on the same level as physical health yet it does impact the physical health.
Speaker 1:It does, in fact, like affect it's amazing how many performance conditions are impacted by stress and anxiety your higher quarter zone.
Speaker 2:You know I don't want to be that statistic that goes back to the 50s. Yeah, we're talking about public relations professionals being at higher risk of heart attacks. Yeah this is. This is not just a digital question. This is an industry question. It is and it's something that we're past time having those discussions about yeah, no, I absolutely agree.
Speaker 1:And that sense of you know doing it all, doing it alone, always being on, always having the answers, it puts us in that fight or flight mode, right, and so like we're constantly responding from a place of fear and uncertainty which is just again trauma after trauma, which again impacts mental health, physical health, performance, innovation. So like if your team's not being as productive as they could possibly be, if you're not, you know really putting the things in place to really help them create that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I mean, I remember at one point in the pandemic I would literally have a stress response when my cell phone pinged.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, I believe that.
Speaker 2:And it was 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock at night. It was because people were moving so fast and they're like, oh, and I need to tell them this. I ended up finally coming to my senses and saying, okay, I'm going to have a work rule and I talk about this in my book too is, you know, set up your work rules for technology and having my okay, admittedly, having my child teach me how to do the dark hours and so I wasn't getting those notifications for work and letting people know that, unless the hospital is literally on fire, burning down, that I will respond to it during my worker hours and yeah, and that's. That seems like such a simple thing to do. But just because I'm thinking about a 90 to get out of my head does not mean that the team needs to execute it immediately. In that moment, you've got to be able to, as professional people, to discern what is the most important thing, whether it is 8am or 8pm.
Speaker 1:Yeah, on that note, I would want to. I want to lean into this. Next question actually is more about like for our listeners who are leading digital teams or aspiring to and marketing teams. You know I love that you are doing this work with the social mediaorg health. As their board director, I'm kind of curious as to what are some of the practical strategies that you talked about boundaries and work hours but what are some other strategies that you have seen work for protecting the team's wellbeing?
Speaker 2:Boy, it's all about it. You know, we are communicators and we, I think, as an industry, do the worst job of internal communication right Among our teams.
Speaker 2:I'm not even saying among our organization, I'm saying talking amongst ourselves. So you know, on my team we literally have daily touch bases and we're talking about everything from what's going on in the world to what's going on in your world. And, if you know, my coworker right now wasn't feeling the greatest. I'm like, okay, go. He's like, well, maybe I need to go eat. Well, first of all, go eat. And if you're not feeling better, then, and if you're feeling off, go, take care of that. And we're okay for the weekend and I can monitor. And so you need to just be able to have those conversations, because if I'm dragging because I'm not feeling good or I'm stressed out or I'm worried about X, y and Z, I'm not bringing my best to the table. Yeah, and that's you know. I would rather somebody take the hour they need to go for a walk or go to a doctor's appointment or even take a nap.
Speaker 2:Yes and come back refined and refreshed and able to do their best work. That small investment just pays off dividends. So communicating with ourselves is a big thing. Knowing our boundaries is another thing too, and we don't have to be online all the time just because we are digital communicators.
Speaker 2:And this is something we've had conversations about internally and, you know, with others in my field, is just because the news goes 24 hours a day doesn't mean that you need to be tapped in.
Speaker 2:So we knew, going into election season and with changes with this administration, that there were going to be policy changes and some that could be quite controversial changes with this administration, that there were going to be policy changes and some of that could be quite controversial.
Speaker 2:And knowing that from a health organization, we made the unilateral decision that we would check our headlines and discourse a couple of times a day within our social media monitoring app and then course correcting based on the news of the day. That way we're not constantly pinging in oh my gosh, this has happened and this has happened and this has happened and then getting triggered by things that we're seeing in the feed that we can actually take that step back and having strategic discussions based on it. So, for example, you know the discussion about some of the minority health research being taken off a website. Yeah, that that pinged up in our feed and there was discussions and it's like, okay, well, we can take a step back because we're taking that moment to not react in the moment and say what does this mean for our content strategy?
Speaker 2:Are there opportunities, Are there things that we need to step up and do, to bring to the plate? But being able to take that step back and think about it strategically rather than reactionary and we're not talking huge amounts of time, but just being able to have the sense of being able to step back and say what does this mean for us before we just react, I think is important, and you know that comes into planning and going back to that idea of basic communication.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, and really what you're talking about is systems, like if you, you need systems and structure to help provide that space and sanity, and those boundaries Like you can't maintain boundaries without some sort of system in place because we will cave every time.
Speaker 2:Right, somebody will come with the pressure or the guilt, or we'll just fall into old habits and systems aren't just you know, hey, did I put it in a work front or did I send an email, or did I fill out the form? It's really about having conversations at the right time. So it could be hey, we're thinking about doing a campaign. What does this look like in a social media space? Are we doing organic content? Is it complimentary to us? Is it something that your team has the resource to do? Is it the right channel and the right time for it? And what else is going on in the digital space? There's just so much competing for our attention, not only as professionals but as people, that we've just got to be mindful of that in the world that we're working in right now it kind of reminds me of what I think to tell my kids.
Speaker 1:Oftentimes, when they either say things to themselves or to others, it's like you know, before you open your mouth, before you communicate something, before you post something up on social media, I always think is it helpful, is it true, those two things? And if it's not, I tell people practice the pause.
Speaker 2:Think about what you're saying before you just get out there, you know, and I think, we've all had those moments where we forget to do that, but you know, taking that step back and saying, okay, did I need to? And then either rectifying it or moving on Well cause.
Speaker 1:As a brand, you don't want to go out into the world and just step in a big old pile of you know, because people have.
Speaker 2:I mean not for Wendy's, but you know, not for my brand.
Speaker 1:No, right, exactly, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I honestly kind of hope, because I was on brands where we were literally always on, we always needed to be responding to what was happening in the news and the world. And we were marketing for a fabric softener and I'm like do we really need to be commentating on the entire world and all that's happening? Like, is this really helpful for customers? Is this going to make them more likely to buy our laundry product? I don't know, but yes, I love that step back and pause and again putting systems into place to protect everybody's boundaries. Your book also talks a lot about building resilience. I'd love for you to walk us through one of your favorite stress management techniques that our listeners can take and implement.
Speaker 2:I'm the big proponent of taking a walk, which I know that sounds very silly, but whether it's a walking meeting, it's a, I'm going to take 20 minutes, go around the block and come back and then reassess.
Speaker 2:Taking that step away from the screen is is the biggest thing, I think for me, and that's so hard to do because we are so attached to our phones and our devices and you know my kids are like well, you're on your phone all the time. I'm like one I do work. Two, it's attached to a medical device that I work with, so I need it for a living, so I can't just like put it in the room and we'll see it next weekend. So being, you know, mindful of all the things that you're doing and what do you have in control, and so for me, the realm of control may be hey, I'm going to shut my laptop and I'm going to go take a walk. The other thing I love the idea is closing your door of your office at night, and you know I currently work remotely and I don't have a set office room with a door. I'm closing the door, I'm shutting the laptop off in the night and you know that is done. I put it. Put it away and we'll revisit it in the morning.
Speaker 2:So you know, those really small things, building in rituals to start your day, to close your day. I think all of those things are so helpful. The other thing I do is is I think about you know what are my key goals for that day. You know I um this sounds really hokey I work, you know digital space, but I found a little system and it was like a note card and I'll just show you know it's literally lines and I'll write down here's my meeting times and here's my top three things that I want to get done that day. And having that focus of like here are my key things and everything else will get done, but reminding ourselves you know what I need to do to be the most successful for my organization that day, I think makes a big, big difference too. So just putting that structure in place.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my daughter's class. I think I might've shared this before. I was super thrilled to hear this. They have this thing called soft starts to their day and the kids basically get in.
Speaker 1:And so, between you know, kids get between in like 815 and 830. And then the first bell rings, I think at like 835. But they use that window of time and it's funny because now my daughter's, like I, have to get to school. I have to get there as early as possible, as soon as the doors open, because she wants to be there for the soft starts and essentially it's. You know, they can sit and do a puzzle, they can draw or color or just journal for a few minutes, but the whole idea is that you don't have to sit down and go from zero to 60 and start to like working your brain and your body and all this at once.
Speaker 1:It's really about those soft starts and, like you said, it's not, it doesn't have to be anything huge. Honestly, it's better off that you start with a small thing. So, whether it is like saying I'm going to get up and take a walk because I got a meeting canceled and I'm going to use that time now, or again, come to your desk 10 minutes early but don't get right onto the computer, Take a soft start. I mean, I had another you know?
Speaker 2:yeah, it does involve getting on the computer, but I get up, I turn on my light therapy lamp, I grab something to drink and I read my emails. I know that you know most days because, you know that's, I'm not going to have a meeting until nine o'clock, so I've got my time to kind of ease in. I can do my web edits, those low bandwidth tasks, and then I'm ready to go. So, knowing that, you know you've got that, that, that space and that ritual, and, and it makes a difference, whether you're eight or you're a professional A hundred percent.
Speaker 1:When I told, when I heard her say that, I was like I'm going to start recommending that to every adult that I know, Cause it could be such a useful thing. Even one of our live listeners, Corey, was like I'm going to start you doing a soft start to my work day. It does it makes you. The reason the teacher had really implemented it too is because she actually learned that it helps you improve creativity and focus, and she's seen it with the kids. It's made a difference.
Speaker 1:So I'm like yeah, if it works for them, it's got to work for us. So we've already mentioned a couple times that pressure to be always on. How did you develop and how do you stick to the boundaries that boundaries you write about in your book, Like what is it that made them stick? Because, like I said, without systems sometimes it's really hard and when you've got a lot of people coming at you for different things, it's hard.
Speaker 2:Boy, I'm going to say I'm a work in progress, and that's me being completely honest. I would love to say that I am, you know, clear boundaries. All the time. I realized that I'm human and I, I text and I, you know, get online or whatever. I think it's, it's recognizing when it's okay to give yourself an exception, as opposed to adjusting your boundaries to break the rules all the time. And so it's kind of like you know what do we say with dieting? You know it's like 80% of the time and then you can have your ice cream.
Speaker 1:Um, it's kind of like that, that, not that works ice cream all the time.
Speaker 2:Good reward. But you know, it's like, you know, realizing that it's like if this is the exception of the rule, that's okay. Like Mondays tend to be one of my days that I may break the rule and I may work a little later, and that's just because that's how it's working in my life right now and I get some really great work and some long form writing done and then maybe I will, you know, adjust on the back end later on. You know, maybe where I've got the time to do things like a podcast later on in the week and that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:So you know, making sure that you've got that flexibility and recognizing that that flexibility doesn't just extend to your work, but it extends to the other aspects of your life as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you just reminded me to have a practice. I don't even think about it anymore, excuse me, I just do it. And that is like my little Sunday night ritual of looking at my calendar ahead. I used to just let my week come at me. I didn't know what was coming, I didn't know what meetings I had on my calendar, and so I just perused through my calendar and I will look and say, okay, I mean, I'm pretty meeting heavy on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Speaker 1:Mondays and Wednesdays are my deep work in meeting, like in-person meeting times and days.
Speaker 1:And I will look at my week sometimes and I'll be like, oh hell, I have really done a good job of overbooking and overcommitting myself.
Speaker 1:So that means when people come to me during the week and say, hey, let's do something this weekend, I say, nah, you know, because I know what's like ahead and I know that I'm going to need like the time and the energy to really recover from the week. And I know that's not always something you can do, but I do think sometimes we just like to like pretend it's not all there. But it actually helps me to look at my calendar on Sunday night to see like what's coming and I don't go down a rabbit hole. I just kind of take a quick glance and then I say, okay, and also it helps because I'll be looking at like a Wednesday and I'm like, ooh, I don't, it's, it's not too terrible of a week. I've got a Wednesday, there's somebody I need to hang out and have lunch with. You know what I mean. Like you can be more intentional, not just about what you're packing into your week, but where you're placing moments of rest, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that reminds me of kind of what we do in our houses. You know we sit down as a family. What do you need to do to be successful for the week? You know, are there things that that we need to know about? Do you have activities going on? Um, going through all of that? And then I do that from a professional standpoint and make sure that I've walked in and reserve time for me to do that deep work. That needs to happen, because I can be responsive 40, 60 hours a week if I needed to be. But the reality is there's still the strategic work, the deep work that I need to do, yes, the actual work, people.
Speaker 1:It doesn't happen by itself.
Speaker 2:That always drove me nuts.
Speaker 1:as a creative director, I'm like I would go to my project managers and be like listen, you have me in 10 meetings today. Exactly how and when am I supposed to hit these deadlines if I am in constant meetings, nonstop, are these meetings? Yeah, it goes back to that communication.
Speaker 2:I had somebody I ran into in a meeting. I'm like I know I need to respond back to you. I've been in meetings six hours a day the last three days. I promise I'm going to get it back to you, but maybe Monday and setting those expectations that it may not be today, but I do see you, I do recognize your need and I will respond to you as quick as possible.
Speaker 1:I challenged meetings after a while. I'll be honest, robbie, maybe I mean I didn't do it like a cockily or from an egotistical standpoint, but just knowing what I had ahead of me in the way of work. Again, looking ahead at my schedule, even before I truly owned it as a business owner, I would often go to them and say is this a meeting, is this an email? Is this a hallway conversation? You know, because it's like I need to be able to make time and space for me to get my work done. I can't just be in meetings all day till five, six o'clock in the evening and then be able to start on my work like that won't fly for me or my family.
Speaker 1:And I have to say to, something else that we have to keep in mind is we're not just doing this for ourselves.
Speaker 1:We are doing this, we're modeling something for our coworkers, we're modeling something for our children you said your kids. They notice how much we're on our phones and I'm not trying to guilt, you ought to put them all down, but they want to see, they want to have your attention. And it's like when we were just talking about teenage years and moving bedrooms and I'm like listen, I have got maybe 18 years with you guys in my home and I am going to make the most of that and that's going to require me to make and create some boundaries and again, I think the earlier and the more often that you can reinforce those, the better. But yeah, just know, like your team is watching, you know your, your family is watching, and so that I remember that whenever I get an after hours email or text or message that's related to work I really do work hard to be like I mean I might read it, but then I'll set a reminder nine o'clock tomorrow.
Speaker 2:Well, I'll do you one better. I don't even have Outlook on my phone. That's smart. I mean, do it I literally. Only you know, look at social media account content through my monitoring. That's great.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love it. That's so smart, you know otherwise you're stuck.
Speaker 2:I need to do that horrible thing of scrolling and you? Know, unfortunately, doom and scrolling and then you know that, just like reset your brain in a way, you don't need to be informed, but you can be over-informed and get your life back. Yeah, get your time in your life back.
Speaker 1:We got a question from one of our live listeners. She wants to know. She's like. I know that that managing time is important for wellness. This is kind of on the topic of what we're discussing. So good timing there, but managing time is often very difficult with social media. Do you have any advice on knowing what's happening in social channels without having to stay connected and read all the things on the channel yourself? Although I think you might have just answered that with the monitoring, Are there any resources that you can recommend? So maybe we get a little more specific for her on how to track those trends, For example? She's all about looking for ways to work smarter, not harder. Amen, my friend, and I know that you all are too. What do you got for her, Robbie?
Speaker 2:So I'm not sure if we're talking about trends as far as what they're seeing, as far as content, or trends in social media apps and how things are working. So from this I'll just touch on the social media apps Definitely tie into your network. You do not have to be expert on all the things, but you can curate and figure out who the experts are and let them do the heavy lifting for you and then kind of digest that information. I spend, you know, a couple hours each week just catching up on trends and knowing what's going on. It's also important to know what makes sense for your brand. If your brand isn't on a certain platform, it's okay to keep aware of it, but that's not your primary area of focus and it's okay to kind of table that and then just look at the bigger industry trends and the reports when you're taking a look at content that impacts you and your organization. That content that impacts you and your organization.
Speaker 2:That's where it gets tricky and you know I mentioned earlier, you know we are we do a lot of monitoring through Spread Social for our app. You can use Hootsuite or other platforms, but one of the things that I know is it's easier to monitor an aggregate that way, filtering for your keywords, key phrases, that kind of things, and then just checking in periodically on the headlines and the trending topics to course correct, because everything happens so fast in social media Things can turn on a dime, you know, just based on one person's comment, and we see that all the time. Person's comment and, and we see that all the time. And um, you know, it's just easier on you to kind of keep your focus primarily on your brand and your audiences and their needs. Yeah, but then just checking in on the status, you know, kind of thinking back to back in the day when the news was only on it eight, five and ten, you know. You know there's another idea too, robbie we talked about this in the goal setting workshop.
Speaker 1:Right Of like time batching and time boxing. So I started time boxing times in the day when I would check my email, because I would find myself.
Speaker 1:I would have like a context switching moment between one task to the next, something that needed to be done, especially on my deep work days, and I would see an email. But most of the time email Slack messages are incoming to dues and or need thoughtful, intentional responses, and I would never get that. I would miss things. They would get like pushed down in the feed or in the email inbox and then I wasn't answering thoughtfully and intentionally because I was trying to do it between a million different things. So I time box in the morning and in the afternoon when I will check my emails, and it takes some discipline and it takes some time because I know we're all afraid that you know people will die if we don't check our emails, but I really do try to minimize real time and decisions are being made real time over email.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um right, it's convenient, but not so well, that's the case when I get up and walk to them.
Speaker 1:What? That's all what. I'll get up and go walk to them or be like do we need? To jump on a Zoom call Because we should be talking.
Speaker 2:Exactly, exactly so, and it's okay. Again, those work rules. You know if you're going to give me an assignment over Slack.
Speaker 1:I'm going to be like, hey, you need to fill out a work front request, or you know, send the details over email, do not piecemeal it.
Speaker 2:I've kind of trained team members that if you send stuff to me in piecemeal that's fine, but just understand it's going to take me longer to get it together because now I've got to go curate all the information as opposed to you providing me all the details. Great.
Speaker 1:And I loved your point too, that collective knowledge is such a powerful thing. You don't have to be the one always on with all the answers. I'm sure that you get a lot of this from the other community that you sit on the board for. But together, digital, we have an asks channel where you can literally just drop in. It's like your bat phone. You're like yo, I'm trying to figure out this thing, I need help, and people just really come to your rescue with lots of thoughtful, intentional, sometimes bulleted lists, links, their calendar, to offer to spend a half an hour talking with you about it. So don't ever think that, like you have to be the one to know all the things and figure it out. I think that there's a lot to sit to be said for. You know, leaning on the collective knowledge of others, you can still walk into the room and look smart and because it's like you're surrounded by smart people, that's totally fine, that's totally fine To me and said hey, let's have some conversations about these different social media topics.
Speaker 2:I said, well, yeah, I could talk about it, but this person is even better about it and being able to proactively share that not only are they getting the best information they can, you know, I'm helping this other personnel too, and that's the beautiful part about community.
Speaker 1:I think it is, it is, it is. Yeah, these guys, everyone here, all these amazing women make me smarter every day. People are like you know so much. I'm like it's just because I get to sit here and take it all in every single day. So I also wanted to make note of where folks can get your book. So if you wanted to tell them their website, we'll obviously include it in the show notes too. Where should they go to get your book?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. So you can check out social media, sanadita and you at robbyschneidernet. I also have a couple of other books out there that are related to caregiving resources, just based on some previous experiences and some needs that I've seen. So you know I've been really blessed to work in the healthcare space and have some experiences that kind of have helped me inform things and being able to help, share and bring it forward to others.
Speaker 1:That's wonderful. I love that, and also, members of those of you who aren't aware, we do have a caregiver channel as well, because that is another very lonely endeavor, sometimes when you're working with, like aging parents or aging family members and you become the caretaker. All right, let's talk a little bit about your process and how you got here. We kind of came into, like you said, the goal setting workshop. You had all these post-it notes and now you're a published author. We know that didn't just happen overnight, right, but I am curious what surprised you the most about the process of turning this expertise that you have gathered through just lived experience into guidance for others that you have gathered through just lived experience into guidance for others.
Speaker 2:I think what surprised me the most was that nobody was connecting the dots on research and you know, I see pieces from PRSA and organizations overseas and research on communications and this small element. But and everybody's having conversations who work in the social media space about like we're tired, we're burnout, you know, don't push our people too hard but nobody's saying, hey, you know, we've got that larger conversation. So me being able to help bring some of that data together hopefully can help other communicators have those conversations with their teams and their leadership and saying how can we do things better and smarter? I'm not saying that I have all the answers. I'm not saying that I've got all the research, but it's a starting point for a deeper discussion about how we can make things more effective for your organization and to make things more balanced for your team members, because we don't need people to be tired and burnout and ready to quit.
Speaker 2:I've seen studies about how 60% or more of communicators are ready to quit because of mental health concerns. That's ridiculous. That's losing attention. That is a tremendous issue for any organization, let alone somebody in healthcare. And taking that step back at how we can do things better, I think is good and I think it needs to be something that's an ongoing conversation. I mean, I even got called out on it yesterday. Um, my team members like, okay, you sound tired. I'm like a little overwhelmed and I'm like, well, why don't you take a step back and we'll regroup about it tomorrow? And I'm like, oh, my God, you do listen to me.
Speaker 1:Oh, look at that, I'm reflecting what you have taught back to them. That's such a good moment. I love that. Yes, definitely Good for you.
Speaker 1:I mean that's how you know you're doing it right. Right Is when your team shows back up for you and the ways in which you've been modeling showing up for them, which, again, is why I think all of this is so important. So I love it that, like you know, the majority of our members within this community have like 15 to 20 years of experience. So and you've been in it for a while now you know social media is not something new. It's something that a lot of people are kind of in and then they're right out of, but you have really managed to stick with it. So I would love to hear some advice from you about sustainable career growth and how you recommend staying current with digital trends without sacrificing that mental wellness that we all are really holding so near and dear.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think one of the biggest challenges working in this kind of role is that there's very much a sense by non-communicators that this is just easy. I can take a picture and snap it and throw it online, I can take a video and stick it online. But really take diving into that strategic messaging and how you can be a good partner for your business to tell the story and not just be, you know, putting a pithy quote or a meme on a brand, that you are here for customer retention, you're here for education, you're here for, you know, leveraging your organization to really help your customer base or potential customers. It's really about kind of growing and defining yourself within your organization. It's about not being afraid to try and even if you try and fail, that's okay.
Speaker 2:You know we decided that after how many years of saying, hey, we need to do more social video, this is the direction they're going, and we weren't getting resources. We just said we're going to do it and it's going to look terrible and you know I was okay with it looking terrible because we were getting out there and we were trying and we learned from that. So, not being afraid to get your hands messy, not being afraid to try. I'm a print journalist by background, so you know the video side is is all new to me and it's a little nerve wracking but it's fun and it's it makes things interesting and it makes things, you know, exciting to try something new for a good day. So not being afraid to try, I think, is just one of the important things, especially if you're you're determined to stay with a particular field within the social media space. You know, never being afraid to try, I think, is the biggest.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it and I love that you haven't lost your passion for it, and I think it is a testament to your ability to kind of be mindful and intentional and acknowledge, like the mental toll that it can sometimes take on you. I think that helps for the sake of resilience and longevity as well. Right, because it's not always about jumping on and following every, every trend, because you know, guess what?
Speaker 1:you're jumping on a trend and you're putting a ton of money towards you know, I don't know, a tick tock, and then all of a sudden it's gone and then it's back, and then it could be gone again you know we had a great conversation this week with some other members really about, like you know, as one of our amazing members here in Cincinnati said, you're social media platforms are like building a house on sinking sand, like own your properties, be conscientious about your lists and how you reach your people.
Speaker 1:Because you don't own social media, you know you're playing in someone else's yard, and I think that that's such an important mindset, even to kind of help you sort of realize that, yeah, there are certain things you said it before too that are out of my control. What can I control? What levers can I pull? Knobs I can turn to like test and learn, and I do love that curiosity. Digital and social are a great place to kind of just put things out there and see how it, how it works and how it evolves, and then maybe blowing it up into something bigger. But yeah, you don't need to make it an all in every time Exactly.
Speaker 2:And I think I'm lucky I work in the healthcare space. We are about helping improve people's lives. I mean that's how do you get a better mission than that? You know, so I feel like I've got a very special place. It's it's. It's a very serious place because you know, we are walking alongside people, sometimes during their most difficult times on life you know, and you know some of the message we get.
Speaker 2:We're trying to direct people to get care or answers question about their loved ones, and you know we're really here about helping connect people to care wherever they are, whether it's a hey, I know I need to eat better. Or it's a hey, you know, my loved one has cancer and walk alongside and and and tell those stories and help educate. You know it's, it's kind of a gift actually.
Speaker 1:It is. And I wonder has that really changed? Like, I don't know if you've been anywhere outside of the healthcare industry, but do you feel like that's changed your perspective a lot on social media and how you guys show up, since you are dealing with such delicate things?
Speaker 2:Um, you are dealing with such delicate things, I think. So, you know, I think early in our the career was social, that it was. It was very much a what is this space about and it was more conversational, you know. But really leaning into you know, like how we can do this to not only work for our organization but work for the people who read our content or watch our content. And I think that that shift definitely took place during the pandemic, where we're like, okay, we are real. I mean I've seen it before Like, okay, you know, I've had people post, you know there are road conditions and we can't. They say that don't travel, but I broke my arm. Do I go to the hospital? Literally, I've gotten that asked before and you know, so you're trying to help them and it's like, yes, that's a medical emergency, right.
Speaker 1:Should be on Facebook right now. I don't know how you're typing this.
Speaker 2:But, you know, talking about that, talking about you know we are here as a public health organization, as somebody to help reach out, not only from a data perspective of oh yeah, we reached numbers, but being able to hear it from the emotional perspective of like being able to tell somebody that thank you for sharing your story about getting your your colon cancer screening, because four people just posted in the comments that they're going to get their schedule because of you.
Speaker 1:That is crazy powerful.
Speaker 2:I mean that whole word of mouth, and that's what we're about. We're here to you know set those examples and help lead people towards positive change and be able to share that.
Speaker 1:It's amazing. I love it. Yeah, that's so thoughtful. So obviously you've not just touched professional lives and your personal lives with those that you've kind of created and set these boundaries and had these conversations with, and now you've got your book. I'm kind of curious I know it's early days with your book and everything, but I'm kind of curious as to what sort of feedback you've received about your approach to digital wellbeing, and has anything out of that been sort of surprising?
Speaker 2:Boy, that's a great question. I think people are just pleasantly surprised that we're actually bringing it onto the forefront and we're we're starting that conversation. You know, we've talked about mental health and we've talked about depression and anxiety and those are all very valid, but when we're really bringing those concerns already to the table and then into the workplace and then onto the demands of digital, that's a lot. And so being able to leverage that conversation and start that conversation within the digital industry, I think it's a great thing.
Speaker 2:I'm glad to play a little small part in that and hopefully we work to improve everybody's lives. So maybe we don't become that study that says, hey, social media professionals are more likely to have chronic health issues because they're not taking care of themselves, right, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:So true, preach to that Really quick a little. Oh, I think I forgot it. I had a little bonus question for you. Oh, actually, yes, it is a bonus question for you Because this is such an important topic, because it is so timely and because you have a book. I kind of want to know, my friend, are you applying to be a speaker across the board at different conferences?
Speaker 2:I would love to. I've been in conversations locally and I love talking and writing and sharing tips with others. Definitely that's something that we need to keep that conversation going.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, definitely. I think you should be looking at things like marketing profs with Anne Hanley, the B2B marketers you need to talk and apply for content marketing world. They have their applications open. Now's a good time, robbie. There's a lot of speaking engagements for everybody's conferences in the fall that are open. So I'm happy to share with you even my list, and then I'll also recommend to you.
Speaker 1:Innovationwomenorg is a great website. If you're not already on there. It's like 120 bucks for the year for the profile. Well worth it. You can create your speaker profile and then it'll aggregate. You can search and find and filter different types of conferences that you want to apply to. So then you're not having to like scour the internet trying to find all these places to speak. You just kind of build your bio and then you put in some keywords and it'll give you recommendations. Actually and it's another women-led organization and, yeah, I really enjoyed being a part of that I have found also some amazing speakers from there. So if you're a person looking for speakers, innovationwomenorg they have never, ever let me down.
Speaker 1:All right, I've got a couple more questions and then we'll go into the power round at the end, our little rapid fire questions.
Speaker 1:But again, our audience our live listening audience has done a great job of engaging and asking questions, so keep it coming.
Speaker 1:If you've got more questions for Robbie, please, please, don't be shy about using that in the chat or putting them into the chat. I would love to bring it back to kind of where it all started. You know we've launched our authentic ambition goal setting cohort for this year even though there's still time to join, watch the first workshop and then get in our spring check-in, because we do quarterly check-ins to keep each other accountable. But I'm curious for our members who are already within that group and just kind of starting out on their goals for the year what advice do you have for them? Because you know who you are and where you are. A year ago you know that's been a big step and if they've got a big goal that they're kind of working towards, they probably are feeling a little bit of uncertainty. So I'd love to hear some of your advice for those that are kind of setting these big goals and about to chase them down for 2025.
Speaker 2:I think you know the phrase about you know eating the elephant.
Speaker 2:you take it a bite at a time and that sounds really gross, but yeah you get it, you know, Um, so one of the things it's it's overly simplified, but I literally had a Google doc and I said here are my, my three goals, or whatever that I was going to do. Um, writing the book at the beginning of 2024 was not one of them, it was a. I'm just going to use my voice and I started listing, listing down ideas, and here you know the steps towards the goal. So it started out very small, like hey, I'm going to pitch a friend about writing an article for their blog and I'm going to do this. And you know, some of the things didn't come to fruition. Um, not for lack of trying on my part, it just wasn't the right time or got lost in an inbox or what have you? Um? But having those checkpoints checking in quarterly, not only with um, the larger together together digital group, but I um met weekly with um a couple of women just checking in on their goals and their, their experiences, and not giving up when times are hard and just saying it's okay to take a pause when life happens.
Speaker 2:I had major surgery in the middle of this and I was out of play for like eight weeks and that was okay. Yeah, it was going to get done when it was going to get done. And you know what? I came back and made things happen. Um, but giving myself the grace, I mean we'll say, okay, there are bigger things going on in my life right now. Um, you know, having a loss in my family, you know. That is bigger than whether or not I promote a book. So if it's meant to wait to January, it's meant to wait to January and and being able to say you know what's the most important things in my life? Not just am I hitting my goals and my metrics, but am I taking care of myself in the process is really one of the things that was important to me too.
Speaker 1:I love it and you really took that away. I think you took that. You said it so well and it's. I think you took that. You said it so well and it's. It's always interesting because when we've been doing the goal setting cohort for gosh five maybe it's almost six years now and it is funny because I feel like a lot of the women will come in and they're so gung ho and ready to like set big goals and like nail it down. And you know, and we do talk about making smart goals and looking at your productivity style and really figuring out the best way to actually make this happen. But I always feel like the thing that we really try to overemphasize is exactly what you said there is life happens and it's going to happen, whether you like it or not, and so it's not so much right.
Speaker 1:Exactly it's so. It's like you know, it's not always even. It's like not even plan for the worst, hope for the best. It's just allow. Allow these things to happen, but don't let it be the thing that stops you from picking it back up and finishing it.
Speaker 2:You know, and I'm so glad you did we get challenges and you know what do we tell stuff. You know my son just went through his Eagle Scout project and there were delays. And I said what did you learn from this?
Speaker 2:He's like well, don't always rely on this or things will get delayed or this will happen and and having those experiences of you know, even when you stumble, even when you have to hit pause, it kind of helps create the you that you are today. So dust off and saying, okay, you know, here's what I can make happen and making the most of it. Um, you know, I suppose you know I I self-published. I mean, I'll be honest with it.
Speaker 2:You know I could have gone through the process of finding a publisher and that kind of thing and I was like that was not something that I was ready to do at that point in time, and that's okay. It meant enough for me to get the message out in the world, and then we'll go from there. And you know, kind of knowing what your goals and your expectations are.
Speaker 1:I think yeah, being realistic with those, I think yeah, deb in our workshop does a fantastic job of breaking that down and being like is this realistic? Is this the right time? Do I have the right support? Because there are just so many things we don't think about when we start to set these goals. We don't break it down, like you said, take it bite by bite. We sort of just go for the goal, the whole like enchilada, and then we're like I can't do this now, no-transcript. When you get broader in that respect, it really opens up your mind to opportunities too, right, because you kind of never know when something good could be really coming your way and unless you're really in tune with your values and your goals that align with those values, it's hard for you to see those opportunities and know when to go. You're just going to kind of question everything Absolutely.
Speaker 2:The third goal I had on my. You know we don't need to get into all my goals, but I think it's kind of important. I included that I'm keeping it for this year too is considering it the year of yes and.
Speaker 2:I was at a place in my life where I was like I could take a step back. My kids didn't need me quite as much, my husband's health is stabilized, you know to where. Maybe he didn't need me quite as much. And what could I do and what opportunities could I be open to? And I literally kept a list of opportunities that came my way that I took advantage of, and being able to say that it's like wow, that was kind of cool. Um, you know, and and not because anything was was particularly big, but it was great just to say, hey, I'm going to be open to trying new things and I think that's just, you know, allowing yourself the grace of being able to be able to try those things.
Speaker 1:I think you know I say it like once a day it's like courage comes after the action, Like, yeah, you know, confidence, courage, it all comes after the action. It doesn't come before. We're all scared, we're all nervous, we're all worried about it, we all got all these things that are holding us up, but yeah, it's really just those barriers of your own limiting beliefs. All right, let's go into our Power On questions.
Speaker 2:We've got a few minutes left. Go-to anxiety busting app. If you happen to use any apps for helping, um I do use calm mostly for the music at night. Um, I don't do a lot of the. I always have great intentions, I'm like, oh, I'm gonna do the exercises and frankly I just usually just. But I sometimes that that music in the middle of the night and I need to kind of just decompress.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it. I will recommend to you. If you haven't seen them on there there are walking meditations. You said you like to go for walks to decompress. I had trouble for a while during the pandemic sitting and meditating, even though I've practiced meditation since I was 18. It was just being still in a home. So much the getting outside and walking, the walking meditation. I almost have it memorized now that I don't even need to really listen to it because I know all the cues now. But yeah, I would recommend that as well. All right, First thing you do when you feel digital overwhelm coming on Disconnect which is crazy because it's like I've got meetings or whatever when I can.
Speaker 2:it may not be in that moment, but it's recognizing that and I think having that reality is like, okay, I've got too much going on. I have a little bit of time, you know, between four and 430. I'm going to just take my break now. I'm going to, you know, walk. I'm going to read a book. I may talk to my kids who have walked in from school today. I'm going to take a few minutes because the work will still get done. Even if I have to postpone it by half an hour, I will make it happen, and being able to just taking that break to breathe is just so important Helps you come back stronger and more capable and focused.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when you take that break, I think. Sometimes we think if we just keep pushing, keep pushing, I'll get through this. It's like, oh, actually no. And there are times when that's valid.
Speaker 2:When you're working in an actual, true crisis, yeah, that's fine, sure, but staying at that high crisis level, it's not doing your body or your mental health.
Speaker 1:Any favors Agreed? What's your favorite non-negotiable boundary that you've set for work-life integration? I won't use the word balance. I don't like it.
Speaker 2:No, that's kind of a misnomer, I think it's. It's it's setting up for not my non-negotiable, I think it is. You know, when I'm offline, it's offline and that's. You know whether it's the hours of the day, certain hours of the day or when I'm on vacation. If you text me and I'm on a hiking trail. I will text you a picture back and say this is where I'm at. I can't help you.
Speaker 1:This is why.
Speaker 1:I like the mountains in the middle of nowhere, cause then I don't get phone service or internet and people think that's gotta be the scariest situation. I was like you have no idea You're. It's actually going to be so freeing once you allow for it and just be present and realize like we've gone back in time. You know, we all survived several centuries more than a millennia of like not two millennia of not being always on and always reachable. It is, it is possible, my friends, you can do it. All right. We'll wrap it up with this last one. What is one self-care practice that you wish you had started sooner in your career?
Speaker 2:You know what it would be boundaries and communication. And I always thought that speaking up isn't necessarily about complaining and saying I have so much work to do but it's like, ok, this is not effective, this could be done better. And I think that just took maturity in my career and maturity and understanding me as a professional, the people who are coming up in their career and they're able to speak up. For that I love it for them. But being able to set those expectations and saying, hey, these are best practices or this would be better, if you know, having your voice in the workplace, I think you know.
Speaker 1:I wish I had found it sooner, frankly, Advocate for yourself and advocate for others with these conversations. Yeah, I think this would be a great team book for people to buy for their team and read as a group as like a book club type of thing That'd be great Thank you, yeah, yeah, absolutely Well. Thank you so much, robbie.
Speaker 2:I know we've been waiting a minute to do this, but I'm really glad that we had this conversation again.
Speaker 1:It's such an important one. I am so glad we got to do this. Everybody, please check out her book Social Media, sanity and you by Robbie Schneider. We've got the link in the chat. We'll include it in the show notes. Yes, again, just thank you so much for all the amazing work you're doing, for showing up. That's sometimes the hardest part being a part of this amazing community and just really adding to it. I know that there's a lot that you get out of it as well too, so I've been really happy to see that balance of that give and take, and I just can't wait to see what you're up to next.
Speaker 2:I can't wait so thank you so much, Amy.
Speaker 1:Of course, my absolute pleasure. All right, everybody. Thank you so much for being with us today. I hope you've found a moment to just pause and start to look at your days and find ways in which you can create more balance, more sanity in dealing with all things social media, digital life. We know it's a lot. We want to do what we can to help you get through it and continue to be the strong, amazing people that you are.
Speaker 1:Next week, we are going to be joined by Adrienne Garland. She's a trailblazer for women's entrepreneurship and she's going to share her incredible journey of building a business, creating community and reshaping the entrepreneurial landscape through the idea of doing it with heart, which again feels all soft and fuzzy, but when you look at her her she Leads Media company you're going to be impressed. She's succeeding by leading with heart. So excited for that conversation. Thank you again, robbie. She's succeeding by leading with heart. So excited for that conversation. Thank you again, robbie. Thank you again listeners and our amazing production team. We'll see you all next week. Until then, keep asking, keep giving and keep growing.
Speaker 2:La la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la la la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la la, Produced by Heartcast Media.
